The Independent Effects of Psychosocial Stressors on Subclinical Psychosis: Findings From the Multinational EU-GEI Study

B. Pignon*, M. Lajnef, J.B. Kirkbride, H. Peyre, A. Ferchiou, J.R. Richard, G. Baudin, S. Tosato, H. Jongsma, L. de Haan, I. Tarricone, M. Bernardo, E. Velthorst, M. Braca, C. Arango, M. Arrojo, J. Bobes, C.M. Del-Ben, M. Di Forti, C. Gayer-AndersonP.B. Jones, C. La Cascia, A. Lasalvia, P.R. Menezes, D. Quattrone, J. Sanjuan, J.P. Selten, A. Tortelli, P.M. Llorca, J. van Os, B.P.F. Rutten, R.M. Murray, C. Morgan, M. Leboyer, A. Szoke, F. Schurhoff

*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

The influence of psychosocial stressors on psychosis risk has usually been studied in isolation and after the onset of the disorder, potentially ignoring important confounding relationships or the fact that some stressors that may be the consequence of the disorder rather than preexisting. The study of subclinical psychosis could help to address some of these issues. In this study, we investigated whether there was (i) an association between dimensions of subclinical psychosis and several psychosocial stressors including: childhood trauma, self-reported discrimination experiences, low social capital, and stressful life experiences, and (ii) any evidence of environment-environment (ExE) interactions between these factors. Data were drawn from the EUGEI study, in which healthy controls (N = 1497) and siblings of subjects with a psychotic disorder (N = 265) were included in six countries. The association between psychosocial stressors and subclinical psychosis dimensions (positive, negative and depressive dimension as measured by the Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE) scale) and possible ExE interactions were assessed using linear regression models. After adjusting for sex, age, ethnicity, country, and control/sibling status, childhood trauma (beta for positive dimension: 0.13, negative: 0.49, depressive: 0.26) and stressful life events (positive: 0.08, negative: 0.16, depressive: 0.17) were associated with the three dimensions. Lower social capital was associated with the negative and depression dimensions (negative: 0.26, depressive: 0.13), and self-reported discrimination experiences with the positive dimension (0.06). Our findings are in favor of independent, cumulative and non-specific influences of social adversities in subclinical psychosis in non-clinical populations, without arguments for E x E interactions.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1674-1684
Number of pages11
JournalSchizophrenia Bulletin
Volume47
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Nov 2021

Keywords

  • subclinical psychosis
  • schizotypy
  • psychotic symptoms
  • positive subclinical symptoms
  • negative subclinical symptoms
  • depressive subclinical symptoms
  • psychosocial stress
  • childhood trauma
  • stressful life events
  • social capital
  • discrimination
  • Community Assessment of Psychic Experiences (CAPE)
  • ADULT PSYCHIATRIC-DISORDERS
  • CHILDHOOD TRAUMA
  • LIFE EVENTS
  • NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTERISTICS
  • PERCEIVED DISCRIMINATION
  • THREATENING EXPERIENCES
  • PSYCHOMETRIC PROPERTIES
  • COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT
  • GENERAL-POPULATION
  • ETHNIC-GROUPS

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